By Sportsmail Reporter
Last updated at 11:19 AM on 29th March 2011
Manchester United have topped a new league table, but it is not one they are going to be proud of. The Barclays Premier League leaders are now the most hated company in the country.
They are more hated than the only people in the country who probably earn more than the club's multi-million pound stars - bankers.
In a survey of 1,000 UK adults, 26 per cent said they hated Manchester United compared to 23 per cent who cannot stand budget airline Ryanair, the next most despised company.
Most hated: Manchester United may have the biggest crowds and a winning record but their success and power alienates manyThere is also plenty of resentment for companies who seem to be making big profits while the rest of the country suffers - the third most hated firm is British Gas.
Despised: Flamboyant Ryanair chief executive heads up the nation's second most hated companyNot surprisingly, Britain is also seething at the bankers living it up on big bonuses, with 17 per cent naming RBS and 16 per cent citing Lloyds as financial giants they cannot stand.
The poll, conducted by Online Opinions for The People, showed no love lost either for chains who appear to be taking over the nation's high streets - 19 per cent hate McDonalds and 14 per cent hate Starbucks.
But, perhaps surprisingly, Brits do not have the same feelings about other retail giants like Primark, Ikea and Tesco, all of which came out well in the survey.
Reasons for hating big business vary, according to the responses, with 61 per cent hating banks for their bonus culture, 54 per cent having a downer on oil companies for petrol prices and 51 per cent who can't stand utilities for hiking up energy bills.
Manchester United may have the biggest crowds and a winning record but their success and power alienates many others from across the country.
In both north-west England and London they are hated by 31 per cent - though many of these are probably supporters of their biggest rivals. That figure falls to 22 per cent in the South West and 23 per cent in East Anglia.
Ryanair gets the most negative response from Londoners where 31 per cent hate the airline, compared to just 13 per cent of those in the north-east.
Ryanair - 23 per cent
British Gas - 22per cent
McDonalds - 19 per cent
RBS - 17 per cent
Lloyds Bank - 16 per cent
Starbucks - 14 per cent
BT - 13 per cent
Sky - 13 per cent
easyJet - 10 per cent
Network Rail - 9 per cent
Network Rail is most unpopular in the commuter heartlands of the south-east, while BT gets the thumbs down from 20 per cent in Scotland, but only 8 per cent in Wales.
A spokesman for Online Opinions said: 'It is not surprising that so many big companies are hated by so many people when you consider the ways in which they make themselves unpopular.
'Manchester United is possibly a victim of its own success and the way it is viewed by passionate fans of its rivals but it is different for banks and utilities.
'Banks get billions of pounds to rescue them from the public then go and splash out millions on bonuses while the rest of the country is in recession - no wonder they are so disliked.
'And utilities keep raising household bills at a time when people can afford them the least yet they still seem to be making lots of profits.
'With other companies, the reasons are more personal. Ryanair is probably the most popular airline in Britain thanks to cheap fares yet passengers still moan about having to pay for their luggage or booking by credit cards.'
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